Lower Manhattan Recovery Office

Contact Information

About LMRO

The FTA has been directly involved in the Lower Manhattan Recovery effort since the immediate aftermath of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, providing technical support and emergency funding in coordination with Federal, state and local agencies. In the months following the attacks, this support was provided through FTA headquarters and its Region 2 office in Manhattan. In July of 2002, the FTA formally established the Lower Manhattan Recovery Office (LMRO) to carry out the rebuilding and enhancement of the Lower Manhattan public transit system.

LMRO’s mission is to deliver project development and oversight programs for nearly $5 billion in capital construction funding for transportation infrastructure projects. Congress appropriated these funds to several federal agencies including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and FTA. FTA was designated as the lead federal agency in administering these funds.

Background

Lower Manhattan is the third largest business district in the nation. Prior to September 11th more than 385,000 people were employed there and 85% of those employees used public transportation to commute to work.

In the attacks on 9/11, nearly 3,000 lives were lost and over 12 million square feet of office space were destroyed, including the World Trade Center Towers and several buildings nearby. The attacks also destroyed the Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) terminal and the New York City Transit 1/9 line subway station in the basement of the World Trade Center Towers, and damaged the N/R Line subway station and Route 9A (West Street) on the east and west sides of the World Trade Center site.

LMRO Mission Statement

The FTA Lower Manhattan Recovery Office’s (LMRO) mission is to deliver a project development and oversight program for over $4.5 billion in capital construction projects leading the transportation recovery and economic revitalization in response to the terrorist attacks on New York City on September 11, 2001. In achieving its mission, the LMRO program will model streamlined project delivery and strong stewardship of the federal investment.

In carrying out this mission, LMRO has adopted innovative approaches to project development and oversight to ensure that these projects are built on-time and on-budget.

High Priority Projects

Since it’s inception, LMRO has played a key role in streamlining high priority transportation recovery projects sponsored by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ). The projects include The World Trade Center Permanent PATH Terminal, Fulton Street Transit Center, South Ferry Terminal Station, Route 9A Promenade South and the World Trade Center Security Center.